Isabelle Daza on How Moving to Hong Kong Changed Her Lifestyle

In lieu of the bars and nightclubs that defined her salad days, the "it mom" is now pre-occupied with afternoon hikes and school visits.

by Em Enriquez

Published on Apr 15, 2025

There was a time when Isabelle Daza's life meant partying until the crack of dawn in Manila's most coveted clubs and bars. Such was the protocol for one of the country's OG it girls, after all. At this stage of her life, however, she's embracing more pared-down agendas, ones that heavily involves her growing family of five.

Isabelle gets candid about the shifts in her lifestyle in Smart Parenting's April 2025 cover story. The spread, shot in a scenic hiking range in Hong Kong where the Daza-Semblats presently reside, captures her life as a mom and wife.

Isabelle Daza-Semblat and her Family Front the April 2024 Cover of Smart Parenting

Isabelle Daza is Smart Parenting's cover star for April 2025. Photos by Kim Lao

Staying true to her fashionista roots, Isabelle styled the entire shoot herself, dressing her kids—Baltie, Valentin, and Esmeralda—and her husband Adrien in athleisure looks from Sporty & Rich and Bobo Chosen.

She also directed the shoot, opting to have photographer Kim Lao shoot her family while they were in their element. "This is what we do on weekends, so I thought we’d have more fun this way," she told Smart Parenting. "We saw the highest point. There were a lot of stairs. The kids were climbing on the trees. But that's what we want."

Isabelle Daza on Moving to Hong Kong, Afternoon Hikes, and Her Funny Bone

Before she tied the knot with Adrien, Isabelle wasn't really an outdoorsy person. After joining him on some excursions, she quickly felt the positive effects of hiking. "It took me years to appreciate that being with nature is actually soothing and healing," she shared.

The family of five live have been stationed in Hong Kong since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The celebrity mom says that they, "were living in Hong Kong with no furniture for four months." When things finally opened up, Isabelle sought to let her kids experience as much of the outdoors as they can, attesting to how beneficial it can be for them.

"We try to expose the kids to as much nature as we can because it's very healing for us," she illustrates. "We see the effect if we stay inside and they watch cartoons the whole day on the TV."

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Despite trading in her heels for activewear, and night-outs for afternoon hikes, Isabelle makes sure to keep her core intact. One of the things that remain a strong personal facet is her sense of humor. Every now and then, the "it mom" would share clips and photos of her routines, often with an injection of wit and candor.

It's become an integral part of her parenting style, too. “I always try to be silly around my kids. I try to see things from their perspective. You know, you can't take life so seriously because life is already so serious," she waxes. Adding how her funny bone will forever stay intact, she emphasizes the importance of not taking life too seriously.

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Isabelle visited by her sister Ava and mom Gloria Diaz in Hong Kong.

“I think humor is just a part of me. I love to laugh. I love to make people laugh. And once you get people to laugh, all the barriers are kind of let down in terms of social connections," she says.

“Humor is so powerful and I try to inject it in my own content because it's just who I am. It's a part of me.”

Read Isabelle's Smart Parenting cover story here.

Em Enriquez is queer and probably daydreaming somewhere. They're an editorial assistant at Preview who can't live without pop music and lemon-tinted sunnies.